The Podium

Joining David Sutphen’s article for The Hill today on the FCC and regulatory reform, our other chairman Bruce Mehlman writes about the same topic over at Politico:

While reduced government controls over areas like information services helped unleash investment and innovation, the regulatory rulebook for telecom entrepreneurs is more complex than ever. Outdated regulations persist — adding costs and complexity to the creativity and new business formation so essential to our economy – even as policymakers regularly propose still more rules.

For years, congressional leaders have called for reducing the volume, invasiveness and effect of government controls over market actors in this most competitive arena. President Barack Obama added his voice last month — with an executive order that requires federal agencies to review all regulations and purge those that fail to add value or make sense.

Julius Genachowski, the FCC chairman, is now launching his effort, and decades of regulations leave him plenty to work with. The FCC needs to take this mandate seriously.